"So I re-readed the KOF G Manga the other day, and well. Poor Kagura gets bullied and almost killed by Goenitz here. Funny thing is that her boss fight doesn't happen here, so she jobs even harder against him. I know this Manga is more about Kyo and Athena than Kagura, but damn. Even in official stuff she can't get a break."
Chapter 4 - Out of Reality
Chizuru opens her eyes, wondering if she is dead...
"Groan!" - Vermilion roars to Chizuru's face as he rises his arm to kill her
"Ah!" - Chizuru dodges Vermilion's attack as both struggle with each other falling in what appears to be a strange spiral of blue dusk
"(What is this place?)" - Thinks Chizuru taking a brief look at the endless void where they are falling
"Argh!" - Vermilion grabs Chizuru's neck with a pretty incredible strenght.
"(I must separate from him... The more contact I have with him, the more weak I'll be!)" - Chizuru starts to feel dizzy as Vermilion keeps holding her neck
"Argh!" - Using all her strenght, Chizuru attacks Vermilion's chest. For her surprise, the creature drops her
Chizuru sees strange circles in the horizon, unable to react Vermilion tries to approach her again. Only for Kagura to dodge his attempt at grabing her again.
"(What are those strange circles?)" - Wonders Chizuru as she is more closer to a strange yellow circle.
Vermilion launches himself towards Chizuru again, but Chizuru counters him with her arm.
"GROAARHH!" - Vermilion spins as he falls in a different circle, Chizuru doesn't have time to celebrate as she realizes she is about to cross that yellow circle
Passing through the circle, Chizuru closes her eyes
"(What? I'm alive?)" - Chizuru opens her eyes, she seens herself back to earth. Worrying about killing herself landing on the floor. Chizuru sees a strange river in the horizon, she dives to the water
*Splash* - Chizuru falls to the water of the river with her managing to resurface, she swins to the shore trying to grab her breath after what just happened
"Ah. Ah." - Chizuru grabs her hair, she squeezes out the water in her hair as she looks at her surroundings
"(This is a park... Wait a moment, I recognize this place, this is the same park I walk through when I go towards Kagura Enterprises...)" - Chizuru
"(So, that means I'm back home... But Vermilion... I wonder where did he ended?)" - Chizuru starts asking herself some questions as she walks through the park slowly recovering her energies taken by Vermilion
"(I need to call Miyuki!)" - Thought Kagura pulling out her cellphone, she starts calling Miyuki
"..." - Chizuru
*Beep*
"Sorry, the number you're trying to call doesn't exist..." - Was the only message Chizuru could hear trying to call her friend
"What?!" - Chizuru is shocked, she turns around looking at the park, despite being a park that she had seen before, there was something different about it.
Chizuru starts walking out of there, she decides to walk towards her mansion as she passes in front of a building with a signal that says
"Neo Tokyo's annual charity concert... Featuring Xana the Psychic Warrior Princess from the Ultra Fighters."
Some moments later
"(This is the zone where I live, but it looks different..)" - Thought Kagura arriving at the expensive zone where she lives
Running seeing that it was already night time, Chizuru arrives to the place where her mansion should be
"There is!" - Chizuru sees her mansion, but there was something off.
"(What? The gate is closed!)" - Chizuru tries to use her keys to open the gate in front of the mansion but the key doesn't fit at all in the key hole of the gate
"(Did someone is playing a joke on me? No! This is strange... Why I'm unable to enter in my own house!)" - Feeling confused, Chizuru sees no other alternative but to jump inside crossing the fence
Landing on the other side, Chizuru takes a better look at "Her Mansion"
"(Where's the temple? Where's my garden? And my garage? This-This doesn't look like my home!)" - Chizuru walks inside with her seeing how even the building that was supposed to be her mansion looked different
"Hahahaha!" - Chizuru hears some laughs coming from the building, she approaches one of the windows with the intention to get a peak at what is going on inside
"(What? Who are those people?)" - Chizuru raises an eyebrow surprised to see a adult man, a adult woman and their three sons, two kids and one girl having dinner.
"And then I told her, so you say Snakeman is you favorite member of the Ultra Fighters? I think you're just crazy!" - Said the dad
"Hahahaah!" - The woman and the kids laugh
"Come on, dad. Tell us again, what it was like to meet Firelord?" - Asks one of the kids
"It was fun, guy is pretty chill actually. I only got a picture with him but it was a nice experience." - Says the dad
"(Firelord? Snakeman?)" - Chizuru remembers having heared those names before, but she can't remember where
Walking out of the window, Chizuru's mind is clouded by alot of questions
"(What is going on?)" - Thinks Chizuru trying to understand what was happening when suddenly
*Crash* - The main door opens, with the dad opening the door, he goes to throw something to the trash when suddenly
"Who the hell are you?!" - Asks the man looking at Kagura
"Ah. Ah... Isn't what you think! I was searching for my house... And I ended up loss here." - Says Chizuru feeling nervous as the man looks at her
"(Was that the best excuse I could come out with?)" - Chizuru thinks as the man looks at her
"You're loss?" - Asks the man feeling also nervous thinking Kagura must be some kind of thief
"Yes, yes. I think my GPS got a malfunction and I ended up here. I'm sorry, my vision isn't too good on the night." - Chizuru
"Honey, who are you talking to?" - Asks the wife coming out seeing both his husband and Kagura
"This woman was telling me she loss herself and ended up arriving at our home..." - Says the dad still wondering what the hell was Chizuru doing
"Really? Who are you?" - Asks the wife
"Well, this may sound crazy but I'm-" - Chizuru
"Is Ms. Puzzle!" - Says the girl as she appears coming out alongside her brothers
"What?" - Chizuru
"Ms. Puzzle!" - Exclaims both parents surprised
"Yes, mom. Don't you see her face, is the same as Ms. Puzzle... But why are you wearing those strange clothes, where's your elegant magician costume?" - Ask the girl
"No, no. You're confused.. I'm not this Ms. Puzzle you speak of." - Says Chizuru, the name Ms. Puzzle sounded familiar to her also
"Don't lie, your face is identical to Ms. Puzzle." - Says the dad as he and his wife stare surprised to Ms. Puzzle
"Can I get your autograph? I'm your biggest fan in my school! All the other girls are always saying that Xana and Kamui are better heroines than you! But I think you're the best Heroine of Neo Tokyo! Please, give me your autograph!" - Says the girl with a smile to Kagura
"(Ms. Puzzle? Where I had hear that name before? And does she looks exactly like me?)" - Chizuru stares confused at the family thinking they just meet a super star when suddenly
"ARGH!" - The girl grabs her head feeling pain
"Lilly! What's wrong?" - Says the dad approaching his daughter worried
"My head hurts! Argh!" - The girl twitches in pain grabing her head
"Don't worry, everything is going to be alright." - Says the dad as he hugs his daughter
"No dad! I don't feel right...Groan!" - The daughter rises her head looking at her father, her eyes have become dark yellow pale eyes.
Suddenly for the surprise of everyone, the daughters bites the arm off her dad making her mother and his two brothers reaction wondering what is going on
*Gasp* - Chizuru is shocked as the girl chews on the arm of her father
"ARGH!" - The dad grabs his right hand as the blood keeps coming out of it
"yOu tHoUgHt yOu hAD eScApEd frrroom mE?" - Says the girl in a strange raspy voice full of echo as she approaches slowly towards Kagura, slowly the appearence of the girl starts to change as her fangs and nails become bigger, her ears become pointy and for Kagura's shock, her appearence starts resembling that of Vermilion
"Vemilion!" - Chizuru dodges the jumping attack from the girl who tries to kill her
"Argh!" - The rest of the family soon start grabing their heads feeling a inmense pain, they start going through the same process of transformation
"Ah! Impossible... He is taking control over this entire family!" - Chizuru
"You thought you could run from me! I'll skin you alive and eat your insides!" - Says the girl with a big creepy smile towards Chizuru
"Ah. Ah. You damn bastard! How are you doing this?" - Chizuru dodges some of the attacks of the girl, she uses her 100 Katsu: Tenjin no Kotowari move to counter the girl, sending her back to the ground
"Hehehe... Don't you see it?" - A voice says that as Kagura turns around to see the now possessed family approaching her
"We are many!" - Says a voice coming from the fence of the mansion as the neighbors of the family start getting inside sporting the same monstrous appearence
"You're but one! Cornered and without anyway to run like a rat!" - Says more of the neighbors as they enter for every part they can of the mansion
Chizuru turns to see the gate, she sees more of the family's neighbors starting to crawl the gate to enter inside
"Impossible!" - Exclaims Chizuru as she is almost surrounded by the entire neighborhood
"(There's too many! And to think Vermilion can do this wherever he is... If only I had more chi... I could maybe seal them in a prision to keep them busy and escape... But I can't!)" - Chizuru is totally cornered as the mind controlled victims approach her, trapping her in a circle
"Ah! Ah!" - Chizuru
"Groan!" - The mind controlled people rise their hands preparing to kill Kagura
"Sitromni fo niahc!" - A voice is heared as suddenly every single person is trapped with a strange orange energy chain wrapping around their bodies for Chizuru's surprise
"ARGH!" - The group of people screams as the chain starts emiting a electrict wave
"What just happened?" - Whispers Chizuru confused
"They are tied together! That's what happened." - Says a voice coming from the sky, Kagura rises her head seeing a female figure flying descending towards her
The strange woman sports a magician outift, with white, red and black colors decorating it.
"You! You're!" - Chizuru is shocked as she sees the face of the woman resembling hers alot
"(Her face! Is identical to mine...)" - Chizuru stares at the woman confused
"Hmph! What? It feels like-" - Strange woman
"Looking at a mirror." - Chizuru completes the sentece
"Listen, I'll tell you what is going on. But not here, we need to get out of here before the spell time limit ends!" - Says the woman opening a portal, she grabs Kagura's hand
"Wait! Where are we-AH!" - Chizuru and the woman jump disappearing for the anger of the people that had been mind controlled
Somewhere else - Outskirts of Neo Tokyo
"AH!" - Chizuru lands on the grass on the hill, both women look at the horizon having a better look at the city
"Where I am? This isn't the tokyo I know." - Chizuru looks at how different this Tokyo was to the one she knew, the constructions looked more futuristic
"This is Neo Tokyo, you're on my world." - Says the woman
"Neo Tokyo?" - Chizuru
"Yes, you see Chizuru, I bet you have many questions right now. I'm willing to answer to them, but you have to trust in me first." - Says the woman
"How I'm going to trust in you if I don't even know who you are? And why you look identical to me?" - Chizuru
"Haven't you realized it yet?" - Says the woman
"Realize what?" - Chizuru
"Allow me to introduce myself... My real name is Magenta Yata... Better know as Ms. Puzzle!" - Says Ms. Puzzle introducing herself face to face with Kagura
"Magenta Yata?" - Chizuru opens her eyes
"..." - Chizuru
"In other words... I'm your counterpart from this world." - Ms. Puzzle
"Counte-Counterpart?! So that's why you look exactly like me?" - Chizuru
"Yes, you see. The stuff that has been happening lately isn't coincidence, follow me!" - Ms. Puzzle and Kagura start walking out in the path on the hills and mountains of the outskirts of Neo Tokyo
"Tell me, any nightmares you had in your last dreams?" - Ms. Puzzle
"Anything like dying in them?" - Ms. Puzzle
"Yes, I haven't been able to sleep thanks to these nightmares... Is like a cycle of death. Is just repeats over and over again! How do you know about that?" - Confesses Chizuru feeling frustated
"Would you believe me if I told you those were more than just nightmares?" - Ms. Puzzle
The last comment makes Chizuru look at the magician with a confused face
"What do you mean?" - Chizuru
"For years the human being has always wondered the real meaning of dreams, messages from the gods? Warnings of our ancestors? But there is a say that is always commented. That the dreams are windows to another realities, a world where things go different. You get what I'm saying?" - Ms. Puzzle
"*Gasp* You mean that?" - Chizuru remembers every single dreams she has been dreaming in the past days
"Those nightmares that you had, were nothing more than the unfortunate outcome of some of our counterparts." - Ms. Puzzle
"So... Every death, it actually happened?!" - Chizuru
"Yes, even the one where that Kasumi girl turns into a vampire." - Ms. Puzzle
"You see, Chizuru. I've been trying to reach to you, but because of how our earths are very far from each other. It took me alot of time... I was trying to warn you... About him!" - Ms. Puzzle
"Remember the papers?" - Ms. Puzzle
"Wait! You were the one sending those?" - Chizuru
"Yes, but the messages that appeared in your world where corrupt versions of what I was trying to say, it probably made you think it was someone pulling a joke on you but I was trying to warn you! The only way I could reach to you was when I used a big portion of my chi to turn that mirror in your library into a door towards a pocket dimension." - Ms. Puzzle
"Wait, so you're the reason why me and Vermilion passed through the mirror in the library?" - Chizuru
"Yes, you were trapped there. I saw it using my Yata Eye. If I hadn't intervined in that, Vermilion would had killed you there." - Ms. Puzzle shows Kagura a strange relic in the form of an eye.
"I had to intervine somehow, I couldn't teleport since like I said our worlds are very far from each other in the dimensional plane. So creating a small breach was the only thing I could do." - Ms. Puzzle
"I see, I get it now! But what does Vermilion want?" - Chizuru
"That's something I can't answer... As I just don't have a answer for that. For years, my ancestors have been protecting themselves against Vermilion.. They never knew the origin of him or what does he wants. We just know he has a personal revenge on our family after their first encounter with him." - Ms. Puzzle
"Wait, that's exactly what my sister Maki told me years ago." - Chizuru
"Oh, so your sister talked to you about Vermilion too? My dear sister, Rose, was the one who told me about Vermilion." - Ms. Puzzle
"Do you think we can stop him? You saw what happened back there, you know he isn't going to give up on his revenge!" - Chizuru
"I know, I'm not even sure if he can be stopped but that's what I'm trying to decipher. There's a good reason why I have been trying to contact you. We aren't fighting against him alone." - Ms. Puzzle
"We aren't? What do you mean, you have some friends who can help us?" - Chizuru
"Lets just say we aren't the only ones who Vermilion wants dead. We arrived!" - Ms. Puzzle shows Chizuru what appears to be a strange big castle in front of them
"A castle? Is this where you-" - Chizuru
"Yes, Chizuru Kagura... Welcome to my Shadowcrest!." - Ms. Puzzle
To Be Continued...